Search locations or food
OR
Sign up

What to eat in Eastern Europe? Top 15 Eastern European Pastries

Last update: Fri Feb 14 2025
Top 15 Eastern European Pastries
VIEW MORE
01
Pirozhki
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Pirozhki is one of the most popular Russian dishes, often sold as street food, although it can also be made at home. The pocket-sized, oval-shaped pirozhki are yeast dough buns stuffed with a variety of ingredients such as fresh fruits, jams, and cottage cheese for the sweet varieties, or meat, eggs, vegetables, fish, and rice for the savory versions.


They can be either baked or fried. The name pirozhki can be literally translated to little pies. Pirozhki are commonly consumed as a snack, and today, they are prepared in numerous versions throughout the world.

MOST ICONIC Pirozhki

View more
1
2
3
4
5
02
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Verhuny is a traditional pastry originating from Ukraine. The pastry is usually made with a combination of flour, baking soda, butter, eggs, sugar, white wine vinegar, sour cream, vodka, oil, salt, and lard. The flour is mixed with baking soda, butter, eggs, sugar, vinegar, sour cream, vodka, and salt in order to get a firm dough.


The dough is rolled thinly and sliced diagonally to get a diamond shape. A slash is made in the center of each diamond, and one end of the dough is pulled through the opening. Verhuny are then fried in lard until golden and drained on paper towels.


Before serving, the pastries are often sprinkled with sugar.

03

Savory Pastry

ADJARA, Georgia
4.2
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Achma is a Georgian dish consisting of a few layers of tender dough, a crispy top, and lots of cheese in between. It originates from the western Georgian regions of Adjara and Abkhazia. The dough is usually made with eggs, water, butter, and flour, while the cheese filling is either Georgian cheese or a combination of ricotta, mozzarella, and feta.


Due to the fact that it’s a layered dish with tender sheets of dough, achma is often compared to the famous lasagne.

04

Savory Pastry

SAMEGRELO-UPPER SVANETI, Georgia
4.1
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Kubdari is a popular Georgian pastry that is traditionally filled with beef, pork, or a combination of the two, along with spices such as cumin, dill, coriander, blue fenugreek, red pepper, onions, garlic, and salt. The dough consists of flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt, and eggs.


Interestingly, the meat used in this savory pie should be cut, not minced, while the salt should be local and aromatized with special herbs. It is recommended to glaze kubdari with butter and serve it hot.

05
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Perepichka is an iconic Ukrainian street food item consisting of a soft, not overly seasoned sausage that is enclosed within yeasted dough. The whole combination is deep-fried, and it is usually served piping hot without any condiments. The first version of this favorite Kyiv street food appeared in 1981 at a small kiosk on Bohdan Khmelnytsky street.


Perepichka was an instant success, and this hole-in-the-wall food outlet became somewhat of an institution for both locals and tourists.

MOST ICONIC Perepichka

1
06

Savory Pastry

TATARSTAN, Russia
4.1
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Echpochmak is a traditional pastry originating from Tatarstan. This Tatar and Bashkir pastry consists of yeasted dough that's stuffed with potatoes, meat, and onions. The dough is usually made with a mixture of milk, eggs, flour, butter, sour cream, salt, sugar, and yeast, while the filling contains lamb, potatoes, onions, salt, pepper, butter, and cumin.


Once stuffed, the dough is folded into triangles with a hole in the middle and baked until done. When the echpochmak are done, melted butter or meat stock is traditionally poured into each hole. In the past, these pastries were enjoyed in the open air during military campaigns. 
07

Savory Pastry

TATARSTAN, Russia
4.1
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Elesh is a traditional pastry originating from Tatarstan. This Tatar pastry consists of dough that's usually stuffed with chicken, onions, salt, pepper, and potatoes. The dough is made with a combination of flour, eggs, sugar, salt, baking powder, butter, and sour cream.


Once stuffed, the dough is wrapped up around the filling in the shape of a circle with a lid on top (similar to echpochmak, which is rectangular). The pastry is baked until done, and it is then served with meat broth on the side that's poured in the hole on top of the pastry in order to make it juicier.

08
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Vatrushka is a popular Russian ring-shaped pastry that is usually filled with sweet cottage cheese and topped with raisins or other pieces of fruit, although it can also be made with fruit jams or meat. The name of the pastry is borrowed from the Roman languages, and in Romanian vatra means bread that is baked over a fire.


Traditionally, vatrushka is baked in firewood ovens, especially in the villages. The pastry is also popular throughout Ukraine and Belarus, where it can be found in numerous bakeries and stores.

09
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Badambura is a popular Azerbaijani pastry consisting of several layers of flaky dough filled with almonds, sugar, and ground cardamom. It is usually brushed with egg wash and baked until it develops a golden-brown color. This flavorful dessert is traditionally prepared for the spring holiday called Novruz, although it can be consumed throughout the year.


The name of the dish is derived from the words badam, meaning almond, and bura, meaning pie.

10
Ate it? Rate it
Wanna try?
Add to list

Gata is a mildly-sweet Armenian pastry with a shiny glaze crust. It comes in two varieties: plain, or if made for weddings and festive occasions, decorated with an intricate design on its top. There are many variations of gata, usually specific to different regions and towns, but the basic recipe consists only of flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and often an Armenian yogurt known as matsoni.


Although this pastry is baked all year round and on every important holiday in Armenia, it holds great importance as a dish that is specifically prepared on Candlemas. The most popular variety of gata is khoriz, a pastry containing a single-layered filling made of sugar, flour, and butter, followed by gata breads from the villages of Garni and Geghard which are embellished, round and large (commonly a foot in diameter). 

MOST ICONIC Gata

1
11
Corn Bread
SAMEGRELO-UPPER SVANETI, Georgia
3.8
12
13
14
Fried Dough
KALMYKIA, Russia
n/a
15

TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.

Show Map
Eastern European Pastries